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  • Growing something new from seed

    Every so soften I will be seized with a bout of horticultural enthusiasm and decide to try to grow something different. Usually I start with seed as, being a bit on the mean (if not tight) side, that's generally the cheapest way to begin.

    I've grown quite a few trees and shrubs this way, as well as the more usual annuals and perennials + I've also had quite a few failures.

    This year my plans include :-

    Eccremocarpus scaber (Chilean glory flower) - impulse buy at discount shop, still in packet
    Poncirus trifoliata (Japanese Bitter Orange) - currently stratifying in bottom of fridge
    Echium Pininana 'Blue Steeple' - still in packet waiting for warmer weather to be in sight
    Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican sunflower) - germinated well, now at seed-leaf stage
    Cerinthe Major Purpurascens (Honeywort) - germinated v well, first true leaves just about showing
    Physalis ixocarpa (Purple tomatillo) - germinated OK, growing on steadily, but looking rather spindly (expect they'll be a bit happier when the weather warms up)

    So I hope to hear from other adventurous gardeners who are trying something new too, but please don't make it sound too good, as I already have more on my hands than I really should do.

    Finally a couple of bits advice to anyone who hasn't had a go at this sort of thing before :-
    1) Check on the Internet for advice on how to get the unusual seeds you have bought to germinate and if in doubt try a few out of the packet one way, then if they don't succeed you can do something different with a few others.

    2) be patient - a friend of mine had some large tree peonies which had set seed one year and I blagged 2 handfuls off him. I put them in damp vermiculite in plastic bags - stratified them as per advice, sowed them, watched over them, abraded some with sandpaper etc etc - checked different lots of them for about a year - then gave up. About 6 months later I was having a bit of a clear-up (probably had lost a trowel among the junk or hit my head) and came across a couple of poly bags with scummy looking green stuff in them. I almost threw them out, but then I realised that a number of the tree peony seeds were in each one and almost all of them had germinated.

    Enjoy your gardening :-)

  • #2
    A few years ago i grew some blue steeple,also white and pink varietes,they are a big plant,and will not flower the first year,mine just died off over the first winter,if i remember correctly,they were a bit prickly on the fingers,not spick or thornes,very irritable.
    sigpicAnother nutter ,wife,mother, nan and nanan,love my growing places,seed collection and sharing,also one of these

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    • #3
      Usual story - got seduced by the photos - not too sure how I will proceed - may be sow a few seed and then try to over-winter them in the poly-tunnel - probably depends on how cold a winter we get.

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      • #4
        Almost everything that I am growing is new to me

        However, my papayas are looking okay to say I never really expected them to sprout at all:

        Click image for larger version

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        They do look a little jaundiced next to my chilli and pepper seedlings, but I don't know what papaya seedlings are supposed to look like! Hopefully they will green up a bit when there's a bit more sun. They are on the sunniest side of the house, but I'll move them upstairs to my brightest window sill later. It should be getting warm enough to move them to the sun room in a month or so.

        Apparently they don't like being transplanted, so some of them may be in for "the snip". I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do that to them...

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        • #5
          I grow something new every year, my Dad started it, this year it's Butternut Squash and Mooli, along with a couple of new variants of plants grown before.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by self-contained View Post
            Almost everything that I am growing is new to me

            However, my papayas are looking okay to say I never really expected them to sprout at all:

            [ATTACH=CONFIG]79251[/ATTACH]

            They do look a little jaundiced next to my chilli and pepper seedlings, but I don't know what papaya seedlings are supposed to look like! Hopefully they will green up a bit when there's a bit more sun. They are on the sunniest side of the house, but I'll move them upstairs to my brightest window sill later. It should be getting warm enough to move them to the sun room in a month or so.

            Apparently they don't like being transplanted, so some of them may be in for "the snip". I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do that to them...
            They look fine to me - though I'm not sure what shade of green they should be either.

            My advice with the seedlings is to tackle the issue of overcrowding straight away. What I would do is :-
            1) get several pots of compost inside ready - heat the stuff up with warm water if its been outside in the cold.
            2) get a large bowl or bucket of hand-hot water on a chair or table
            3) put the little plants pot and all in the water, and v gently using a small table fork or knife prise the whole lot out of the pot.
            4) hold a couple of the plants by their seed leaves and gently pull them apart, if they don't want to come, try again with another pair while still in the water
            5) gently lift a single plant by a leaf in to a pot and then top up with compost - dribble in a bit of water to wash the compost round the roots
            6) repeat for the others
            7) Don't grab the seedlings by their stems - if the leaves aren't strong enough, try holding some of the roots.

            Paradoxically its very often easier to transplant small plants than larger ones - the reason is that big plants grown together get their roots all tangled up and once this happens its almost impossible to get them apart without killing at least one.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by nickdub View Post
              They look fine to me - though I'm not sure what shade of green they should be either.

              My advice with the seedlings is to tackle the issue of overcrowding straight away.
              Looks like I will be spending tomorrow potting on a lot of seedlings then! Hope I have enough little plant pots.

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              • #8
                Good luck and a steady hand - a few yogurt pots or similar could be used, failing that a large pot temporarily sectioned off vertically with cardboard would get you by, until you can find the size of pots you want another time.

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                • #9
                  I use a stainless steel teaspoon for transplanting small seedlings; dig under the clump, gently lift and prise seedlings from the edges.

                  Just about to grow some btterbur for bees...
                  read: https://twitter.com/calluna4u?ref_sr...Ctwgr%5Eauthor
                  Last edited by Madasafish; 01-04-2018, 05:19 PM.

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                  • #10
                    I’ve sown cape gooseberries. Not exactly exotic but new to me.
                    I might have a go at those wee cucamelon thingys. I attempted them. Score but they were weak spindly weedy plants and died on me. Maybe this year. ....

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                    • #11
                      I had a couple of cucamelon plants last year. I got three cucamelons

                      Click image for larger version

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